The French upper crust once lived so luxuriously the masses decided to chop their heads off, perhaps hoping to find gold inside the aristocratic piñatas. Yet the dour, simple Germans have owned the luxury market. Can an MPV place the French back atop the throne of conspicuous consumption? Sadly, no, because it's just a concept.

A massive luxury sedan remains the icon of privileged motoring despite a massive increase in luxury SUV and crossover sales (isn't the real luxury having a car that can do everything?). While the Germans build class-leading sedans and SUVs, their large crossover offerings can be divided into two camps: ugly (BMW 5-series GT) and not-quite ugly (Mercedes R-Class).

Peugeot's HX1 is merely a concept, but the dimensions are everything one could ask for in a vehicle capable of seating six adults. Even if the half-scissor doors and swing seats never make it into a production, merely the idea of putting more people into a car without having to raise the ceiling to minivan heights is laudable.

Low. Wide. Aerodynamic.

When coupled with a plug-in diesel-electric hybrid powertrain it's also theoretically efficient. Leave it to the country behind the Renault Avantime to once again reinvent the form in a way the Germans can't touch.